DECLIC : ON ITS WAY TO DECLIC EVO

摘要

DECLIC is a multi-user facility to characterize critical fluids behavior and directional solidification growth structures of transparent alloys. As part of a joint NASA/CNES fundamental physics/physical science/ microgravity research program, the DECLIC mini-laboratory has been operated onboard the ISS since October 2009. Housed inside a NASA science rack, DECLIC operates three experiment inserts in turn for periods of 3 to 6 months: HTI (High Temperature Insert), ALI (Alice Like Insert) and DSI (Directional Solidification Insert). Experiments are monitored and controlled from CADMOS at CNES. After a first 2-year maintenance on the ground (following a major anomaly on a communication board) between September 2014 and October 2016, DECLIC experienced a sudden laser degradation in October 2017 that compromised the interferometric diagnostic. In parallel, the success and scientific value of DECLIC have encouraged NASA and CNES to plan a successor to DECLIC (DECLIC EVOlution), continuing to work jointly on new scientific inserts, in line with NASA's exploration vision, who is especially interested in waste disposal for its future long-duration crewed spaceflights, using 'supercritical' water to disassemble organic molecules (clean combustion). As a consequence, after the complete loss of the laser late 2017, it has been decided to return DECLIC facility to the ground on SpX-16 in January 2019 (after all science that can be done without the laser has been performed), to have it fixed and refurbished with two years. This paper aims at presenting the anomaly that led to the decision to return DECLIC facility to the ground, the science that has been possible since the anomaly, the refurbishment plan, and an overview of the new prospective scientific objectives.